The field of artificial intelligence has been disrupted by OpenAI, which has made generative AI more accessible. Faced with this major innovation, giants like Google quickly responded (Gemini), as did Samsung with AI functionalities on its smartphones (Galaxy AI). However, there remains one giant that is taking time to leave its mark in the sector: Apple. If the Cupertino company unveiled Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024, the AI functionalities are arriving late and they are not even available yet!
The delay in the field of AI worries internally at Apple
For several months, murmurs within Apple’s teams have indicated a considerable delay in the development of artificial intelligence technologies. Some employees estimate that Apple is about two years behind, a situation that is becoming more and more apparent in the face of competition.
This feeling of delay at Apple is accentuated by the rapid progress of Google. The latter now offers concrete innovations in AI, both for consumers and for businesses. This includes generative AI capabilities like Gemini which competes with ChatGPT, as well as cloud-based professional tools.
For some Apple employees, working with OpenAI to improve Siri illustrates this perceived weakness. Rather than offering its own generative artificial intelligence technology, the Cupertino company has no other choice but to rely on an external partner. This situation is a clear sign that the company is not yet ready to take on its rivals independently in the field of AI.
Apple Intelligence: a late launch and gradual deployment
During WWDC 2024, Apple formalized its entry into the world of artificial intelligence by unveiling Apple Intelligence, a promising new platform. However, this announcement has not completely dispelled doubts. While the first American users should benefit from Apple’s AI features by the end of October, many countries, including France, will have to wait until next year to benefit from them. The date of this deployment remains unclear, which does not help the criticism of Apple’s slowness in this area.
Despite this delay, Apple Intelligence already offers a number of interesting features. Among them:
- AI-powered notification summaries: A system that automatically sorts and summarizes important notifications.
- Smart notifications: alerts that adapt to user habits and preferences.
- Revamped Siri: a version of Siri capable of understanding the personalized context of interactions.
- Image Playground and Genmoji: tools for creating images and interactive content based on artificial intelligence.
How could Apple overcome this delay?
Aware of this situation, Apple is exploring different avenues to catch up. One of the solutions would be to strengthen its internal team of AI experts through strategic recruitment. The acquisition of startups specializing in AI could also be an option considered. Finally, Apple has decided to substantially increase the budgets allocated to its AI projects. These investments aim to accelerate research and development to prevent the gap with other tech giants from widening further.
Even though Apple is ambitiously positioning itself in the field of artificial intelligence with Apple Intelligence, it is clear that there is still a long way to go before fully competing with the market leaders.
